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 Marlena
is an American born and raised in a large family in Southern
California and is
the youngest child of six.
Her mother was artistically blessed and father was driven by a passion for music and who taught all his life.
Her father passed away at an early age, but left in her a passion for
which Marlena has discovered in the art form of Raqs Sharki (aka
Belly Dance.)
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With five older
siblings who loved popular British bands, Marlena was immersed in a
constant flow of music and rhythm. In school was where she
experimented with instruments playing guitar and saxophone, trying to
express the same love as her father. Marlena took her first belly
dance class in her community taught by the soulful dancer, Kahena.
From the very first class, she was in love with the rhythms of the
Middle East and North Africa. The music brought back wonderful
memories of going to band practice with her father and playing on a
drum much larger than her. |
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 After taking several classes, Marlena was invited to join Banaat Al
Qamar. Marlena performed at the Long Beach Women’s Spirit Summer and
Winter Solstice as well as the Laguna Beach Sawdust festival. While
studying with Kahena, Marlena learned how to express the music from
her inner soul through movement of the body. A few years later, and
just one week after her mother passed away, Marlena dedicated her
first solo dance to her mother, Virginia, performing a beautiful
Hossam Ramzy piece at the Arabic club, the Luxor.
Marlena
continued studying for the next several years with Fahtiem, a world
renowned master teacher and dancer. With Fahtiem she learned to be
playful and entertaining while dancing. Then, she studied with the
internationally known and highly respected instructor and dancer,
Angelika Nemeth. It was with Angelika that she fell in love with
Egyptian style Oriental dance. Marlena has also been coached by and
studied with the elegant Egyptian dancer, Lilla Varese in Orange
County.
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Marlena has
developed into a professional dancer and her opportunities have
soared over the last several years. She has been the house
dancer at several Orange County restaurants such as Junka Mahal,
Saffron Restaurant, Darya Kenar, as well as for special parties at the
Maharaja. She also performs at the Aladdin Jr. in Pomona,
California.
Marlena feels blessed
to have had the opportunity to study with so many wonderful master
teachers and instructors in the Middle Eastern community. She is
thankful to each of them for sharing their knowledge, dedication and
passion and for helping her to become a better dancer. Marlena’s hope
is to continue to teach and express the love she has for this
exquisite and unique art form. |
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